Great video sent in from a fan. I think the helmet cam is showing under the racers vision a bit (not where he is really looking) great exercise in how looking down tenses you up and elevates the sense of speed. Notice how much more relaxed you feel when you can see what will happen in 2-4 seconds instead of just 15-20 feet ahead.

Video clip shot by Gene Hamilton coaching Bryson Martin at Bootleg Canyon. Gene is excited to coach such a faster racer with a poor skills foundation! He took third two weeks ago behind winner, BetterRide coached Mitch Ropelato and 2nd place finisher Mikey Sylvestry yet he can’t corner well (and found out today is vision skills needed some work as well as body position and vision!). We will work on all the core skills in the downhill camp this weekend. With his dedication to learning, doing drills to master those skills and training hard he will be a threat this year.

Notice he carries enough speed to clear the step up after the rollers! The only racers I have coached that have cleared that are Mitch Ropelato and Andrew Pierce (and my asst. coach Greg Minnaar. Once Bryson added his legs into to the pump and got is vision dialed he was flying!

I am so fortunate to coach such a diverse group of riders. From eager, passionate riders just getting into the sport to World Champions like Ross Schnell they all need to master the same core skills that 20 years of riding will not help you stumble upon.

Here are a few short videos of Ross working on descending and cornering.

Notice how he is staying centered on his bike (weight on the pedals) and in a neutral position so we be smooth, maintain his momentum and keep his wheels on the ground.

Ross is balanced, using counter pressure to lean the bike, looking through the turn and back on the gas before he exits the second corner!

Here the corners are steeper and tighter but Ross is still managing to stay low, centered and neutral. In this one he should of slowed down a bit more and finished his braking before the left hand turn to generate more exit speed.

Of course there is a lot more to cornering, first you have to understand descending body position and vision (and then master body position and vision with drills) then understand how to corner, cornering body position, the goal of cornering (we spend 2.5 hours coaching it and teaching you drills to master cornering in our camps. Then another 2 hours applying those skills on trail) but this will give you a good visual of a great rider.